Three dimensional image capturing device and its laser emitting device

ABSTRACT

A three-dimensional image capturing device comprises a plurality of laser devices, and an imaging device, such as a CCD, having a plurality of photo-diodes. Each of the laser devices radiates a pulse modulated laser beam so as to detect distance information or data relating to a topography of a measurement subject. The laser beam is radiated onto the measurement subject and a reflected light beam is sensed by the CCD. Signal charge corresponding to a distance from the image capturing device to the measurement subject is accumulated in each of the photo-diodes, and thus the above distance information is sensed. Each laser beam, respectively radiated from each of the laser devices, shares illuminating area at the distance of the measurement subject, so that radiant energy of each laser beam can be reduced by sharing a single distance measurement operation among the plurality of laser devices.

This application is a divisional application of pending U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 09/612,499 filed Jul. 7, 2000, which issued as U.S.Pat. No. 6,882,687 on Nov. 23, 2004, the disclosure of which isexpressly incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a three-dimensional image capturingdevice by which a three-dimensional shape of a measurement subject,which is to be measured, is captured by a time-of-flight measurement andits laser for emitting a measurement light beam.

2. Description of the Related Art

A three-dimensional measurement using a three-dimensional imagecapturing device is classified as an active system, in which light, anelectric wave or sound is radiated onto a measurement subject, and apassive system in which the light, electric wave or sound is not output.The active system comprises the time-of-flight measurement, a phasedetection using a modulated light wave, a triangulation, a moirétopography, and so on, and the passive system comprises a stereo visionsystem, and so on.

An active system device is bulky in comparison with that of the passivesystem, since the device requires a laser beam output mechanism.However, the active system device is superior regarding a distancemeasurement resolution, a measuring time, a measuring range and so on,and thus, despite the bulkiness, the device is utilized in variousfields. In a three-dimensional image capturing device, described in“Measurement Science and Technology” (S. Christies et al., vol. 6, p.1301–1308, 1995), a pulse-modulated laser beam irradiates a whole of ameasurement subject through an illumination lens, and a reflected lightbeam, which is reflected by the measurement subject, is received by atwo-dimensional CCD sensor to which an image intensifier is attached, sothat an image signal, corresponding to the reflected light beam, isconverted to an electric signal. ON-OFF control of the image intensifieris carried out by a gate pulse, which is synchronized with the pulseradiation of the laser beam. According to the device, since an amount ofreceived light, based on the reflected light beam from the measurementsubject, which is positioned far from the device, is less than that ofreceived light based on a reflected light beam from a measurementsubject, which is close to the measurement subject, an outputcorresponding to a distance between the measurement subject and thedevice can be obtained for each pixel of the CCD.

However, if a person is standing nearby the measurement subject and isin the range of the divergent laser illumination, a laser beam maybecome incident on an eye of the person and may damage the retina.Therefore, three-dimensional measurement using laser beam may be harmfulto the retina of a bystander during the measurement.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

An object of the present invention is to provide a three-dimensionalimage capturing device and its laser emitting device which emits a laserbeam onto a measurement subject to detect three-dimensional distanceinformation of the subject without causing retina damage to an eye of abystander.

According to the present invention, there is provided a laser emittingdevice applied in a three-dimensional image capturing device, comprisinga plurality of laser devices and a laser emitting operating processor.

The plurality of laser devices radiates pulse modulated laser beamsirradiating a measurement subject for a distance measurement, and theplurality of laser devices is separated into predetermined groups. Thelaser emitting operating processor controls the laser devices to radiatelaser beams concurrently in a group. Each of the laser devices in eachgroup is disposed at predetermined intervals. Further, each illuminatingarea of the laser beam radiated from each laser device overlaps eachother at the distance of the measurement subject.

In a preferable example of the laser emitting device, the plurality oflaser devices is disposed at regular intervals along a periphery of aphotographing lens in a circular arrangement. In another preferableexample, a plurality of laser devices is arranged at regular intervalsalong a line in a predetermined direction.

Further, according to the present invention, there is provided athree-dimensional image capturing device, comprising a plurality oflaser devices, an imaging device, a signal charge accumulation controlprocessor, a signal charge accumulation control processor, a signalcharge integrating processor and a laser emitting operating processor.

The plurality of laser devices radiates pulse modulated laser beamsirradiating a measurement subject for a distance measurement, and theplurality of laser devices is separated into predetermined groups. Theimaging device accumulates signal charge corresponding to a quantity oflight received at the imaging device. The signal charge accumulationcontrol processor controls an accumulating operation of signal chargegenerated in the imaging device due to a reflected light beam of thelaser beam, which is reflected by the measurement subject. The signalcharge integrating processor drives the signal charge accumulationcontrol processor repeatedly, so that the signal charge accumulated inthe imaging device is integrated. The laser emitting operating processorcontrols the laser devices, which radiate laser beams concurrently insaid group. Each of the laser devices in each group is disposed atpredetermined intervals. Further, each illuminating area of the laserbeam radiated from each laser device overlaps each other at the distanceof the measurement subject.

Further, according to another aspect of the present invention, there isprovided a three-dimensional image capturing device, comprising aplurality of laser devices, an imaging device and a laser radiatingcontrol processor.

The plurality of laser devices radiates pulse modulated laser beams fora distance measurement in order to detect distance information relatedto the topography of a measurement subject. The imaging deviceaccumulates signal charge corresponding to a quantity of light receivedat the imaging device. The laser radiating control processor controlsthe plurality of laser devices to radiate the laser beams in apredetermined order. Further, each of the laser devices is disposed atpredetermined intervals and each illuminating area of said laser beamradiated from each laser device overlaps each other at the distance ofthe measurement subject.

Preferably, the device further comprises a signal charge accumulationcontrol processor and a signal charge integrating processor. The signalcharge accumulation control processor controls an accumulating operationof signal charge generated in the imaging device due to a reflectedlight beam of the laser beam, which is reflected by the measurementsubject. The signal charge integrating processor drives the signalcharge accumulation control processor repeatedly, so that the signalcharge accumulated in the imaging device is integrated. The laserradiating control processor controls the plurality of laser devices toradiate the reflected light beams successively and alternately, so thateach of said laser beams may be received respectively in each ofaccumulating operations executed in the signal charge integratingprocessor.

Further, the imaging device preferably comprises a plurality ofphotoelectric conversion elements and a signal charge holding unit. Theplurality of photoelectric conversion elements accumulates the signalcharge in each of the photoelectric conversion elements, and the signalcharge holding unit is disposed adjacent to each of the photoelectricconversion elements. So that, the signal charge accumulated in each ofthe photoelectric charge conversion elements is transferred to each ofsaid accumulating operations executed in the signal charge integratingprocessor.

Furthermore, the plurality of laser devices may be disposed at regularintervals along a periphery of a photographing lens in a circulararrangement, and the laser radiating control processor controls each ofthe laser devices so as to radiate the laser beams from each of thelaser devices successively around the circular arrangement.Alternatively, the plurality of laser devices may be arranged at regularintervals along a line in a predetermined direction and the laserdevices repeatedly radiate the laser beams successively along the line.

In another preferable example of the three-dimensional image capturingdevice, the laser radiating control processor controls the plurality oflaser devices to radiate the laser beams in a predetermined orderconsecutively, so that the consecutive laser beams compose a singlepulse beam for the distance measurement, and preferably, the singlepulse beam comprises a rectangular pulse.

In this example, the laser beams may be radiated from the plurality oflaser devices successively along the arrangement so as to compose thesingle pulse beam. The imaging device receives a reflected light beam ofthe single pulse beam, and detects the distance information, whichrelates to the measurement subject, from signal charge accumulated inthe imaging device, due to the single pulse beam, during a predeterminedperiod.

Further, the laser radiating control processor is driven repeatedly andthe imaging device respectively accumulates the signal charge in each ofthe predetermined periods that corresponds to each of said single pulsebeams. Moreover, if the imaging device is comprised of the plurality ofphotoelectric conversion elements and the signal charge holding unit,the signal charge accumulated in each of the photoelectric conversionelements may be transferred to each of the corresponding signal chargeholding units for each of the predetermined periods.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The objects and advantages of the present invention will be betterunderstood from the following description, with reference to theaccompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a camera provided with athree-dimensional image capturing device of a first, a third and a fifthembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an electrical construction of thecamera in the present embodiments;

FIG. 3 is a view showing a principle behind a distance measurement;

FIG. 4 is a timing chart showing a distance measurement light beam, areflected light beam, a gate pulse and a distribution of an amount of alight beam received by a CCD;

FIG. 5 is a plan view showing a disposition of photo-diodes and avertical transfer unit, which are provided in the CCD;

FIG. 6 is a sectioned elevational view of the CCD;

FIG. 7 is a timing chart of a distance information sensing operation bywhich data, corresponding to a distance from a camera body to each pointon a surface of the measurement subject, is sensed;

FIG. 8 illustrates a disposition of the light sources on a laseremitting device in the first, third and fifth embodiments;

FIG. 9 is a timing chart of a laser emitting operation for each lightsource in the first and second embodiments;

FIG. 10 illustrates an illuminating area of laser beams radiated fromtwo different light sources;

FIGS. 11 illustrates an eyeball under intrabeam viewing by the lightemitting device;

FIG. 12 is a timing chart of a signal charge accumulating operation inthe first and second embodiments;

FIG. 13 is a perspective view showing a camera provided with athree-dimensional image capturing device of the second, fourth and sixthembodiments of the present invention;

FIG. 14 illustrates a disposition of the light sources on a laseremitting device of the camera shown in FIG. 13;

FIG. 15 is a timing chart of a laser emitting operation for each lightsource in the third and fourth embodiments;

FIG. 16 is a timing chart of a signal charge accumulating operation inthe third and fourth embodiments;

FIG. 17 is a timing chart of a laser emitting operation for each lightsource in the fifth and sixth embodiments;

FIG. 18 is a timing chart of a signal charge accumulating operation inthe fifth and sixth embodiments.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The present invention is described below with reference to embodimentsshown in the drawings.

FIG. 1 is an external view of an optical reader of a first embodiment ofthe present invention.

On a front surface of a camera body 10, a view-finder window 12 isprovided toward a left-upper edge, adjacent to a photographing lens 11and an electronic flash 13 is disposed toward a right-upper edge. On aperiphery of the photographing lens 11 or a lens mount, a ring shapedlaser emitting device 22 is disposed. There are six laser devices (lightsources) 14 disposed on a front surface of the laser emitting device 22,and arranged at regular intervals around the ring. On a left side of anupper surface of the camera body 10, a release switch 15 and a liquidcrystal display panel 16 are provided, and a mode change dial 17 and aV/D mode switch 18 are provided on a right side of the surface. On aside surface of the camera body 10, a card slot 19 is formed, into whicha recording medium, such as an IC memory card, is insertable, and avideo output terminal 20 and an interface connector 21 are alsoprovided.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an electrical construction of thecamera of FIG. 1.

An aperture 25 is provided in the photographing lens 11. The openingdegree of the aperture 25 is adjusted by an iris drive circuit 26. Afocusing operation and a zoom operation of the photographing lens 11 arecontrolled by a lens drive circuit 27.

An imaging device (CCD) 28 is disposed on an optical axis of thephotographing lens 11. A subject image is formed on a light receivingsurface of the CCD 28 through the photographing lens 11, and an electriccharge corresponding to the subject image is generated therein. Anoperation, such as an accumulating operation and a reading operation ofthe electric charge of the CCD 28, is controlled by a CCD drive circuit30. An electric charge signal, i.e., an image signal, read from the CCD28 is amplified by an amplifier 31, and is converted from an analogsignal to a digital signal by an A/D converter 32. The digital imagesignal is subjected to a process, such as a gamma correction, in theimage signal process circuit 33, and is stored as digital image data inan image memory 34. The iris drive circuit 26, the lens drive circuit27, the CCD drive circuit 30 and the image signal process circuit 33 arecontrolled by a system control circuit 35.

The digital image data are read from the image memory 34, and suppliedto an LCD drive circuit 36, which is operated in accordance with thedigital image data, so that an image corresponding to the digital imagedata is indicated on an image indication LCD panel 37.

The digital image data read from the image memory 34 are alsotransmitted to a TV signal encoder 38, so that the digital image datacan be transmitted to a peripheral monitor device 39, providedexternally to the camera body 10, through a video output terminal 20.The system control circuit 35 is connected to an interface circuit 40,which in turn is connected to an interface connector 21. Therefore, thedigital image data read from the image memory 34, can also betransmitted to a computer 41 connected to the interface connector 21.Further, the system control circuit 35 is connected to an imagerecording device 43 through a recording medium control circuit 42.Therefore, the digital image data read from the image memory 34 can berecorded in a recording medium M, such as an IC memory card, mounted inthe image recording device 43.

A light emitting element control circuit 44 is connected to the systemcontrol circuit 35. Each of the laser devices 14 is provided with alight emitting element or a laser diode (LD) 14 a and an illuminationlens 14 b, and an operation of the light emitting element 14 a iscontrolled by the light emitting element control circuit 44. The lightemitting element 14 a radiates a laser beam, which is a distancemeasuring light beam, and which irradiates a whole of a measurementsubject through the illumination lens 14 b. The laser beam, reflected bythe measurement subject, becomes incident on the photographing lens 11.By detecting the laser beam with the CCD 28 provided with a plurality ofphoto-diodes, which are two-dimensionally disposed on a surface thereof,a three-dimensional image is sensed, as described later.

The liquid crystal display panel 16 and a switch group 45, including therelease switch 15, the mode change dial 17 and the V/D mode switch 18,are connected to the system control circuit 35.

With reference to FIGS. 3 and 4, a principle behind a distancemeasurement in the embodiment is described below. Note, in FIG. 4, theabscissa indicates time “t”.

A distance measuring light beam output by a distance measurement deviceB is reflected by a measurement subject S, and the reflected light beamis sensed by a CCD (not shown). The distance measuring light beam is apulse, the width of which is “H”. Accordingly, the reflected light beamis a pulse, the width of which is “H”, similarly to the distancemeasuring light beam. Therefore, a rise of the pulse of the reflectedlight beam occurs after a rise of the pulse of the distance measuringlight beam by a time δ·t (δ is a delay coefficient). Since the distancemeasuring light beam and the reflected light beam have both traveled adistance “r” between the distance measurement device B and the measuredsubject S, the distance “r” is represented as follows:r=δ·t·C/2  (1)wherein “C” is the speed of light.

For example, by setting a condition in such a manner that the reflectedlight beam can only be sensed from a rise of the pulse of the distancemeasuring light beam to a point prior to a fall of the pulse of thereflected light beam, i.e., by providing a gate pulse corresponding to areflected light beam detecting period T, an amount “A” of received lightfrom the reflected light beam becomes a function of the distance “r”.Namely, the greater the distance “r” (or the greater the time δ·t), theless the received light amount A.

In the embodiment, by taking advantage of the principle described above,the received light amount A is sensed using each of the photo-diodes(photoelectric conversion elements) of the CCD 28, the distance from thecamera body 10 to each point on the surface of the measurement subject Sis sensed, and data of the three-dimensional image, which indicates atopography of the measurement subject S, can be obtained concurrently.

FIG. 5 is a plan view showing a disposition of the photo-diodes 51 and avertical transfer unit 52, which are provided in the CCD 28. Actually, amultitude of photo-diodes 51 are arranged in a matrix, and acorresponding vertical transfer unit 52 is disposed beside each verticalcolumn of photo-diodes 51. FIG. 6 is a sectioned elevational view of theCCD 28 in which the CCD 28 is cut by a plane perpendicular to asubstrate 53. The CCD 28 is an interline CCD of vertical overflow drain(VOD) type, in which unwanted charge is discharged to the substrate 53.

The photo-diodes 51 and the vertical transfer unit (signal chargeholding unit) 52 are formed along a surface of the n-type substrate 53.A plurality of the photo-diodes 51 are two-dimensionally disposed in amatrix arrangement, and the vertical transfer unit 52 is disposedadjacent to the photo-diodes 51, parallel to rows extending in avertical direction in FIG. 5. The vertical transfer unit 52 has fourvertical transfer electrodes 52 a, 52 b, 52 c and 52 d, which correspondto each of the photo-diodes 51. Therefore, in the vertical transfer unit52, four potential wells can be formed, so that a signal charge isoutput from the CCD 28 by controlling a depth of the wells, as is wellknown. Note that a number of the vertical transfer electrodes can bechanged, depending upon the requirement of the CCD 28.

The photo-diodes (PD) 51 and the vertical transfer unit (V-CCD beingsignal charge holding unit) 52 are disposed in a p-type well formed on asurface of the substrate 53. The p-type well is completely depleted dueto an inverse bias voltage applied between the p-type well and then-type substrate 53. In this state, electric charge is accumulated inthe photo-diodes 51, and an amount of the electric charge corresponds toan amount of an incident light beam, which is the reflected light beamreflected by the measurement subject. When a substrate voltage ischanged to a value greater than a predetermined value, electric chargeaccumulated in the photo-diodes 51 is discharged to the substrate 53.Conversely, when an electric charge transfer signal, which is a voltagesignal, is applied to a transfer gate (TG) 54, the electric chargeaccumulated in the photo-diodes 51 is transferred to the verticaltransfer unit 52. Namely, after the electric charge is discharged to thesubstrate 53 by the electric charge discharging signal, the signalcharge accumulated in the photo-diode 51 is transferred to the verticaltransfer unit 52 by the electric charge transfer signal. By repeatingthe discharge and the transfer, an electronic shuttering operation isperformed.

FIG. 7 is a timing chart of a distance information sensing operation bywhich data, corresponding to the distance from the camera body 10 toeach point on a surface of the measurement subject, is sensed. Thedistance information sensing operation is described below with referenceto FIGS. 1, 2, 5, 6 and 7. Note that the timing chart of the distanceinformation sensing operation in the present embodiment is slightlydifferent from the timing chart of the distance measurement principle,which was described above with reference to FIG. 4. Namely, the timingchart of the present embodiment is set so as to sense the reflectedlight beam from a point subsequent to the rise of the reflected lightbeam pulse to a point subsequent to the fall. By this manner, a noisecomponent due to an ambient daylight may be reduced, though theprinciples of the above distance measurement means are basically thesame.

In synchronization with an output of a vertical synchronizing signal(not shown), an electric charge discharging signal (a pulse signal) S1is output, so that unwanted charge, which is accumulated in thephoto-diodes 51, is discharged to the substrate 53. The electric chargevalue, while the pulse signal S1 is output, is indicated as S2 in thechart. After the electric charge discharging signal S1 is output, thelaser emitting device 22 is actuated, and thus a distance measuringlight beam S3, which is a pulsed beam having a constant width T_(s), isoutput therefrom. A period for outputting the distance measuring lightbeam S3 or the width of the pulse beam is modulated according to arequirement. In the present embodiment, the distance measuring lightbeam S3 is modulated as to be completed approximately simultaneouslywith a completion of the output of the electric charge dischargingsignal S1.

The distance measuring light beam S3 is reflected by the measurementsubject, and enters the CCD 28 as a reflected light beam S4. When theoutput of the electric charge discharging signal S1 ends, the electriccharge for incident light, which comprises the reflected light beam S4and an ambient daylight, starts on each of the photo-diodes and a signalcharge S5 is generated. When an incident of the reflected light beam S4is completed, i.e. after the fall indicated with a reference sign S6,the photo-diodes only generate signal charge S8 due to the ambientdaylight.

An electric charge transfer signal (pulse signal) S9 is output and anelectric charge accumulated in the photo-diodes 51 is transferred to thevertical transfer unit 52. The operation of transferring the accumulatedelectric charge in the photo-diodes 51 ends with the fall S10, which isa termination of the output of the electric charge transfer signal S9.Namely, a signal charge S11 of which electric signal accumulation wasstarted just after the completion of the electric charge dischargingsignal output and terminated just after the completion of the output ofthe electric transfer signal S9, is transferred to the vertical transferunit 52, while the photo-diodes continue to accumulate electric signalsS14 due to the ambient daylight.

Thus during a period T_(U1) from the end of the output of the electriccharge discharging signal S1 to the end of the output of the electriccharge transfer signal S9, a signal charge S11, corresponding todistances from the camera body 10 to the measurement subject and theambient daylight is accumulated in the photo-diodes 51. Namely, thesignal charge S12, a hatched portion of signal charge S11, correspondsto the distances from the camera body 10 to the measurement subject,while a residual portion S13 of the signal charge S11 results from theambient daylight.

When a predetermined time has elapsed since the output of the electriccharge transfer signal S9, a subsequent electric charge discharge signalis output, so that the signal charge S14, an electric charge accumulatedin the photo-diodes 51 after the signal charge transfer to the verticaltransfer unit 52, is discharged to the substrate 53. Subsequently,another signal charge is accumulated in the photo-diodes 51. Then,similarly to the above description, when the electric chargeaccumulation period T_(U1) has again elapsed, the signal charge S11 istransferred to the vertical transfer unit 52.

The transferring operation of the signal charge S11 to the verticaltransfer unit 52 is repeatedly performed until the next verticalsynchronizing signal (not shown) is output. Thus, the signal charge S11is integrated in the vertical transfer unit 52. The signal charge S11integrated for one field period, which is between two verticalsynchronizing signals, comprises not only a signal charge S12corresponding to distance in formation of the measurement subject but asignal charge S13 due to the ambient daylight. However, since the signalcharge S13 is negligible as compared with the signal charge S12, thesignal charge S11 can be regarded to correspond to the distanceinformation of the subject, on condition that the measurement subject isstationary for the period between the two vertical synchronizingsignals. Therefore, when the relations between a period T_(D), the widthof the pulse S5 which correspond to a detected period of reflected lightbeam S4, and the signal charge S11 are known, a distance “r” that isfrom the camera body to the measurement subject is calculated from thesignal charge S11, since the period T_(D) corresponds to an amount ofδ·t in the equation (1).

The detecting operation of the signal charge S11 described above iscarried out in all of the photo-diodes 51 provided in the CCD 28. As aresult of the detecting operation for one field period, the distanceinformation sensed by the photo-diodes 51 is held in each correspondingvertical transfer unit 52, which is located adjacent to each column ofphoto-diodes 51. The distance information is output from the CCD 28 by avertical transferring operation of the vertical transfer units 52 and ahorizontal transferring operation of a horizontal transfer unit (notshown). The distance information is then output from the CCD 28, as athree-dimensional image data of the measured subject.

With reference to FIG. 8 and FIG. 9, timing of laser emissions from thesix laser devices 14 is described.

FIG. 8 illustrates a front view of the ring shaped laser emitting device22. Each of the light sources 14, arranged around the ring at regularintervals, is indicated with reference numbers 141 through 146,respectively. A numbering of the light sources starts from the lightsource at 12 o'clock, and succeeds in a clockwise direction. Each pairof the light sources 141 and 144, 142 and 145, 143 and 146 is disposedsymmetrically with respect to the center of the ring or photographinglens. FIG. 9 is a timing chart that shows the timing of the accumulatingperiod T_(U1) and a pulse modulated distance measuring light beamemission, which is radiated from the above six light sources.

In a light or laser emitting operation of the light sources 141 through146, laser pulse beams (distance measuring light beams) Sa and Sa′ aresimultaneously radiated from the light sources 141 and 144, as a firststep. When the pulse beam radiations from the light sources 141 and 144end and pulse beams Sa and Sa′ fall, the first accumulating periodstarts. Then laser pulse beams Sb and Sb′ are simultaneously emittedfrom the light sources 142 and 145, respectively, on condition thatreflected light beams of the pulse beams Sb and Sb′ are not incident onthe CCD 12 during the first accumulating period. When the radiations ofthe light sources 142 and 145 end and the pulse beams Sb and Sb′ fall,the second accumulating period starts. In the same way, laser pulsebeams Sc and Sc′ are simultaneously emitted from the light sources 143and 146, respectively, on condition that reflected light beams of thepulse beams Sc and Sc′ are not incident on the CCD 12 during the secondaccumulating period, and the third accumulating period starts just afterthe fall of pulse beams Sc and Sc′.

As described above, the pairs of laser pulse beams are cyclicallyemitted from the three pairs of the light sources 141 and 144, 142 and145, 143 and 146 in the above described manner for one field period, andsignal charges comprising the distance information are accumulated ineach operation. As described in the following, light sources that aresymmetrical with respect to the center of the photographing lens arepaired, such as the pairs of light sources 141 and 144, 142 and 145, 143and 146, so that a distance between luminous centers of paired lightsources is made wide as possible.

FIG. 10 illustrates an illumination area of the pulse beams, which aresimultaneously radiated from the light sources 141 and 144. The pulsebeams, which are distance measuring light beams, radiated from the lightsources 141 and 144 illuminate approximately the same area U at thedistance of the measurement subject. Namely, centers of illuminatingareas of the each distance measuring light beam, which are indicatedwith points P and P′, are nearly identical in area U. Further, adistribution of radiance due to the each light source is approximatelyuniform in the illuminating area U. Thus even when radiant power of alaser beam radiated from each light source is reduced to 50 percent ofthe power sufficient for the distance measurement, in the illuminatingarea U, in which two of the distance measuring light beams overlap, aradiant power sufficient for the measurement can be obtained. Note thatFIG. 10 only illustrates an example of illumination which is executed bythe light sources 141 and 144, however, the illumination executed by thepairs of light sources 142 and 145, 143 and 146 are the same.

In FIG. 11, a context, in which light beams emitted from the lightsources 141 and 144 are incident on an eyeball, is illustrated.

In the present embodiment, a distance measuring light beam is a laser ofwhich wavelength is between 400 through 1400 nm and peripherally is anear-infrared laser. In this region of wavelength, only a small part ofthe laser beam is absorbed at a cornea C or a crystalline lens L, andmost of the laser beam is incident on a retina R. Therefore a value ofthe maximum permissible exposure (MPE) for an eye is dependent only onthe damage that may be caused on a retina R. However, the light beamsemitted from the light sources 141 and 144 are diverged by illuminationlens 14 b so as to illuminate the entire measurement subject, human eyesunconsciously adjust the focus of a lens to the light sources. Thus, alight beam emitted from a light source and incident to an eye isconcentrated on a point on a retina, which is an intrabeam viewing.Namely, a light beam emitted from the light source 141 penetrates thecornea C and the crystalline lens L and is concentrated upon the point Qwhich is on the retina R of the eyeball E. In the same way, a light beamemitted from the light source 144 penetrates the cornea C and thecrystalline lens L and is concentrated upon the point Q′ which is on theretina R.

As described above, each of the light beams emitted from the lightsources 141 and 144 is concentrated on the different points Q and Q′,respectively. Namely, since the radiant power of the light beams emittedfrom each of the light sources is reduced by half from the radiant powersufficient for the distance measurement, radiance at the points Q andQ′, on which the light beams are concentrated, is reduced by nearly 50percent. Therefore, according to the first embodiment, sufficientquantity of light for the distance measurement may be obtained whileradiance at the points of the retina R (the point Q or Q′ for example)on which the light beams emitted from a light source is concentrated, isreduced by half. Note that the distance between the points Q and Q′increases as the light sources 141 and 144 separate.

Further, in the first embodiment, the light sources are separated intothree pairs, which are comprised of the light sources 141 and 144, 142and 145 or 143 and 146, and from each pair of light sources, thedistance measuring light beams are successively emitted as shown in thetiming chart of FIG. 9. Namely, as the pairs of light sources radiatethe light beams in sequence, light beams emitted from each pair of thelight sources are concentrated upon different points on the retina, anda point on which a light beam is concentrated shifts its position as thesequence proceeds, and a time period (T_(s)) for which a laser beam iscontinuously concentrated on a point may be shortened. Therefore,according to the first embodiment, a quantity of light may be raisedwithout exceeding the MPE of an eye, since integrated radiance receivedat the above each point may be reduced.

FIG. 12 shows relations between the reflected light beam, which isreceived at the photo-diodes 51, and the accumulating period, when laserbeams are emitted from each of the light sources at the timing shown inFIG. 9. In FIG. 12, the abscissa indicates time. A section with hatchedlines indicates a portion of the reflected light beam received at thephoto-diodes 51, an area of which corresponds to the signal chargeaccumulated in the photo-diodes 51. The radiant power of laser beamsemitted from each of the light sources is approximately reduced by 50percent of that required for the distance measurement. Consequently,signal charge accumulated in each of the photo-diode 51 due to areflected light beam of the laser beam radiated from one light source isalso reduced by half. However, since a pair of the light sources, forexample light sources 141 and 144, simultaneously emits the distancemeasuring light beams; a total amount of the signal charge accumulatedin each of the photo-diodes 51 during one accumulating period is notreduced. Namely, the total amount of the signal charge accumulated ineach of the photo-diodes 51 during one accumulating period correspondsto the quantity of light indicated with portions S15 and S16, forexample. Thus, the accumulated signal charge is sufficient for thedistance measuring.

As described above, according to the first embodiment, integratedradiance of a laser beam that is incident on a retina of a personstanding within an illuminating region of the diverged laser beam isreduced without decreasing the total quantity of light, thus eye safetymaybe improved while maintaining the quantity of light sufficient forthe distance measurement.

Next, with reference to FIG. 13 and FIG. 14, an explanation for a secondembodiment of the present invention is given.

FIG. 13 is an external view of a camera type optical reader orthree-dimensional image capturing device of a second embodiment of thepresent invention. Only a figure and disposition of the laser emittingdevice 22 and an arrangement of laser device or light source 14 differfrom the first embodiment. The rest of configurations are the same asthe first embodiment.

In the second embodiment, the laser emitting device 22 is disposed onthe upper surface of the camera body 10 and along an edge of the frontsurface. The laser emitting device 22 is a rectangular parallelepipedshaped with the longitudinal direction identical to the above edge. Onthe front side of the laser emitting device 22, there are six lightsources 14 disposed at regular intervals on a line along the edge. Asshown in FIG. 14, each light source is indicated with the numbers 141through 146, respectively from the left side of the figure. In the sameway as the first embodiment, the light sources 141 to 146 are separatedinto three pairs 141 and 144, 142 and 145, 143 and 146. Namely, eachpair of light sources are arranged with two other light sources inbetween. The each pair of the light sources radiates a distancemeasuring light beam or pulse modulated laser beam in the same waydescribed in the first embodiment. As described above, according to thesecond embodiment, the advantages of the first embodiment are alsoobtained.

Note that, in the first and second embodiments, the six light sourcesare separated into three pairs, and each light source in a pairsimultaneously emits a light beam, however, the light sources may beseparated into two groups, which comprise three light sources in eachgroup. For example, the groups may be comprised of light sources 141,143 and 145 and light sources 142, 144 and 146.

Further, in the first and second embodiments, each of the light sourcesin a pair or a group is disposed at a predetermined distance apart witha light source of an other group in between, though this is notessential. The light sources in one group may be disposed adjacently.

A third embodiment of the present invention is described below withreference to FIG. 8 and FIG. 15. Mechanical and electric structure ofthe third embodiment is identical with the first embodiment. However, atiming of the laser beam emission from the light sources or laserdevices 141 to 146 is different from the first embodiment. FIG. 15 is atiming chart showing the relations between the accumulating period ofsignal charge at the photo-diodes 51 and the laser pulse beam, which isemitted from the light sources 141 through 146.

In the third embodiment, each light source successively alternatelyradiates a laser pulse beam around the circular arrangement. At first,the laser beam S21 is radiated from the light source 141. When the laserpulse beam radiation from the light source 141 ends and pulse beam S21falls, the first accumulating period begins. Then laser pulse beam S22is emitted from the light source 142 on condition of reflected lightbeams of the pulse beam S22 not being incident on the CCD 12 during thefirst accumulating period. When the radiation of the light source 142ends and the pulse beam S22 falls, the second accumulating periodstarts. In the same way, laser pulse beams S23 to S26 are emitted fromthe light sources 143 to 146, respectively, so as not to receivereflected light beams of the pulse beams S23 to S26 during the prioraccumulating period. Namely, the respective light sources 141 through146 emit the pulse beams S21 to S26 by turns, and each of the first tothe sixth accumulating periods starts just after the fall of each pulse.As described above, this laser beam emitting operation cyclicallycontinues for one field period.

FIG. 16 is a timing chart of the accumulating periods and reflectedlight beams received at the photo-diodes 51, when the laser beams S21 toS26 are radiated from the light sources 141 to 146 with the timing shownin FIG. 15, and in which the abscissa represents time. A section withhatched lines indicates a portion of a reflected light beam or pulse,and corresponds to signal charge accumulated in the photo-diodes 51.Namely, signal charges accumulated in each accumulating period arerepresented by hatched portions of the pulse beams S31 through S36,which are the reflected light beams emitted from the each of the sixlight sources 141 to 146, and the signal charges comprise distanceinformation of the measuring subject. A laser emitting operation ordistance measuring light beam emitting operation by the light sources141 to 146 and a signal charge accumulating operation are alternatelyrepeated over one field period. The distance information of themeasurement subject is calculated from one field period integrations ofthe signal charges, which are indicated with the hatched portions,accumulated in each accumulating period.

Each of the light sources 141 to 146 individually emits laser beams in aregular sequence as shown in FIG. 16. Therefore, an interval of thelight emission in the each light source, a light emitting period,comprises six accumulating periods T_(U1). A period T_(P) in FIG. 16indicates an interval between two succeeding accumulating periods, sothat a light emitting period of each light source becomes 6·T_(P).Consequently, in the present embodiment, for each of the light sources(six laser devices) disposed on the laser emitting device, the lightemitting period is six times longer than a period required in a laseremitting device in which comprises only one laser device but radiatesthe same quantity of light during the integration. As discussed in thefirst embodiment, with reference to FIG. 11, the light beams radiatedfrom each light source concentrate upon the different points of theretina R, and a point exposed to a concentrated light beam that isincident on the retina R shifts by turns as the laser emitting operationproceeds and a current light source switches to a succeeding lightsource. Namely, a period of time for an incident light beam toreconcentrate onto a same point on the retina R is elongated six timesof that in the operation executed by the laser emitting device with asingle laser device. Therefore, radiant energy of laser beam radiatedfrom a single light source during one field period or one light-emittingperiod (6·T_(P)) is reduced to ⅙ even though radiant energy of laserbeam for each emission is not reduced, and the integrated radiancereceived at each of the points on the retina R during one field periodor one light emitting period (6·T_(P))is also reduced to ⅙. As a result,integrated radiance at each above point of the retina, on which theincident light beam is concentrated, may be maintained below the MPE ofan eye and the possibility of damage caused by the light beam to theretina is significantly decreased and eye safety improves.

Further, since the six light sources sequentially emit a laser beam to ameasurement subject, sufficient quantity of light for a distancemeasurement is obtained, even though the radiant energy of each lightsource during one field period or one emitting period (6·T_(P)) isreduced to ⅙.

As described above, according to the third embodiment, the sameadvantage as in the first and second embodiments is obtained.

Next, referring to FIG. 13 through FIG. 16, a fourth embodiment of thepresent invention is described.

A camera type three-dimensional image capturing device in the fourthembodiment is identical to the second embodiment as to the mechanicaland electrical configuration, and a laser emitting operation is the sameas the operation in the third embodiment. Namely, a perspective view ofthe camera is shown in FIG. 13 and disposition of the light sources orlaser devices 14 is illustrated in FIG. 14. Further, timing between theaccumulating period and laser pulse beam emission and between theaccumulating period and reception of reflected light beams at thephoto-diodes, executed in the laser emitting operation of the fourthembodiment, is described in FIG. 15 and FIG. 16. By operating the sixlight sources 141 through 146 in the manner described in the lightemitting operation of the third embodiment, the same advantages as inthe former embodiment are obtained.

With reference to FIG. 17 and FIG. 18, a fifth embodiment of the presentembodiment is described.

Mechanical and electrical configurations of the fifth embodiment are thesame as the first and third embodiments, so that a perspective view of acamera and disposition of the light sources in the fifth embodiment areillustrated in FIG. 1 and FIG. 8. The fifth embodiment differs from thefirst and third embodiments in its laser emitting operation. FIG. 17 isa timing chart that describes timing between the accumulating period andthe laser beam emission executed in each of the light sources 141 to146.

Firstly, the pulse beam S41 is emitted from the light source 141.Approximately at the same time as the pulse beam S41 falls, the pulsebeam S42 is emitted from the light source 142. Then approximatelyconcurrently with the pulse beam S42 falling, the pulse beam S43 isemitted from the light source 143. In the same manner, the pulse beamsS44, S45 and S46 are successively emitted from the light sources 144,145 and 146, respectively to the measurement subject. When the pulsebeam S46 falls, a signal charge accumulation starts in the photo-diodes51, and the accumulating operation lasts for the accumulating periodT_(U1).

The pulse S47 describes illuminance at a certain point on the surface ofthe measurement subject. The laser emitting operation for the lightsources from 141 through 146 is controlled as if the pulse beams S41through S46 compose the continuous single pulse beam S47. The distancemeasurement in the present embodiment is carried out with the light beamS47, which is composed of the pulse beams S41 to S46. Namely, a pulsewidth of the pulse beam or light beam S47 is T_(S), and the pulse widthof each of the pulse beams S41 to S46 is T_(S)/6.

FIG. 18 is a timing chart which shows the relation between the reflectedlight beams S51 to S56, which respectively correspond to each pulse beamS41 to S46 and are received at the photo-diodes 51, and the accumulatingperiod T_(U1). Each of the light beams S41 to S46 are reflected by themeasurement subject and the corresponding reflected light beams S51 toS56 are received at the photo-diodes 51 when the period of time T_(D)passes. Signal charge that is accumulated in the photo-diodes 51 isindicated with the respective hatched portions S58, S59 and S60 of thereflected light beams S54, S55 and S56, which are received at thephoto-diodes 51 during the accumulating period T_(U1). Each of thereflected light beams is received consecutively, so that the quantity ofthe reflected light beams received at the photo-diodes 51 are describedas a single pulse S57. The hatched portions S58, S59 and S60 correspondto a hatched portion S61 of the pulse S57, and the width of the hatchedportion S61 corresponds to the period T_(D). Therefore, the quantity oflight, which is indicated by the hatched portion S61, represents thedistance from the camera body to the measurement subject.

The above laser emitting operation and the accumulating operation arerepeatedly continued for one field period, and the signal chargeaccumulated in the photo-diodes 51, which corresponds to the hatchedportion S61, is integrated in the vertical transfer unit 52, asdescribed in the first embodiment. Further, the distance from the camerabody to the measurement subject is calculated from the integrated signalcharge.

In the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 17, the distance measuringlight beams from S41 through S46, each having a T_(S)/6 pulse width, areemitted sequentially and individually in this order from each of the sixlight sources 141 to 146, which are disposed in the laser emittingdevice 22. The reflected pulse beams S51 to S56, emitted from each ofthe light sources and reflected by the measurement subject, can beregarded as a single pulse beam S47 with the pulse width T_(S). Thepulse width is reduced to ⅙ of T_(s), however, radiant power(corresponds to the pulse height) of each light beam radiated from theeach light source has intensity sufficient for the distance measurement,thus the radiant energy radiated in a single emission is reduced to ⅙ ofthe pulse of the width T_(S). Each laser beam incident on the retina R,which corresponds to the reflected light beams S51 to S57, isconcentrated on a different point of the retina R (see FIG. 11), and thepoint, on which the current laser beam is concentrated, shifts itsposition as the laser emitting operation proceeds. Therefore, integralradiance at the point of the retina R on which the laser beams isconcentrated in a single emission is reduce to ⅙ when it is comparedwith the laser emitting operation executed by the laser emitting devicewith a single laser device. Consequently, integrated radiance at eachabove point of the retina, on which the incident light beam isconcentrated, may be maintained below the MPE of an eye and possibilityof damage caused by the light beam to the retina is significantlydecreased and eye safety improves. Namely, the same advantage as thepreceding embodiments is obtained by the fifth embodiment.

Note that in the present embodiment, a laser pulse beam or a distancemeasuring light beam is described as a perfect rectangular pulse,however, an actual pulse beam is not a perfect rectangular pulse and hasa substantial rise time and fall time, which are transitional periodsfor a rise and fall of the pulse. Therefore, a fall time of a precedingpulse beam may be overlapped with a rise time of a succeeding pulsebeam, and a continuous rectangular like pulse beam is composed.

The sixth embodiment of the present invention is described below withreference to FIG. 13, FIG. 14, FIG. 17 and FIG. 18.

A camera type three-dimensional image capturing device in the sixthembodiment is identical to the second and fourth embodiments as to themechanical and electrical configuration. A laser emitting operation inthe sixth embodiment is the same as the operation in the fifthembodiment. Namely, a perspective view of the camera is shown in FIG. 13and disposition of the light sources or laser devices 14 is illustratedin FIG. 14. Further, timing between the accumulating period and laserpulse beam emission and between the accumulating period and reception ofreflected light beams at the photo-diodes, executed in the laseremitting operation of the sixth embodiment, is described in FIG. 17 andFIG. 18. The six light sources, from 141 through 146, are operated in amanner described in the light emitting operation of the fifthembodiment. As a result, the same advantage as in the previousembodiments is obtained.

Note that, in the present embodiments, a laser beam is divergentlyemitted so as to illuminate the whole of the measurement subject, sothat radiance of the laser beam radiated from a light source varies as adistance to the measurement subject changes. Therefore, radiant power ofeach light source is adjustable in order to maintain the radiance on thesurface of the measurement subject to be constant.

In the present embodiments, the number of the light sources is six,however, the number of the light sources may be increased or decreased.Further, in the third through sixth embodiment, the laser emittingoperation of the light sources is carried out in the order of theirdisposition. However, this order is not essential, and the order may beat intervals or at random.

Although the embodiments of the present invention have been describedherein with reference to the accompanying drawings, obviously manymodifications and changes may be made by those skilled in this artwithout departing from the scope of the invention.

The present disclosure relates to subject matter contained in JapanesePatent Application Nos. 11-194253, 11-198516 and 11-198741 (filed onJul. 8, Jul. 13 and Jul. 13, 1999, respectively), which are expresslyincorporated herein, by reference, in their entireties.

1. A laser emitting device applied in a three-dimensional imagecapturing device, comprising: a plurality of laser devices that radiatepulse modulated laser beams irradiating a measurement subject for adistance measurement, said plurality of laser devices being separatedinto predetermined groups having plural laser devices; and a laseremitting operating processor that controls said laser devices to radiatelaser beams concurrently in each of said predetermined groups, whereineach laser device of said plurality of laser devices in each of saidpredetermined groups is disposed at predetermined intervals, eachilluminating area of a laser beam radiated from said each laser deviceoverlapping each other at a distance of said measurement subject,wherein each of said predetermined groups comprises a pair of laserdevices that are disposed opposite each other with a center of aphotographing lens in between.
 2. The device of claim 1, wherein saideach group of laser devices radiates laser beams at a different timing.3. The device of claim 1, wherein said plurality of laser devices aredisposed at regular intervals along a periphery of a photographing lensin a circular arrangement.
 4. The device of claim 3, wherein at leastone laser device of a predetermined group is disposed between saidplural laser devices forming another predetermined group.
 5. The deviceof claim 4, wherein a number of said plurality of laser devices is six.6. A three-dimensional image capturing device, comprising: a pluralityof laser devices that radiate pulse modulated laser beams irradiating ameasurement subject for a distance measurement, said plurality of laserdevices being separated into predetermined groups having plural laserdevices; an imaging device that accumulates a signal chargecorresponding to a quantity of light received at said imaging device; asignal charge accumulation control processor that controls anaccumulating operation of the signal charge generated in said imagingdevice due to a reflected light beam of said laser beam, which isreflected by said measurement subject; a signal charge integratingprocessor that repeatedly drives said signal charge accumulation controlprocessor, so that said signal charge accumulated in said imaging deviceis integrated; and a laser emitting operating processor that controlssaid laser devices to radiate laser beams concurrently in each of saidpredetermined groups, wherein each of said laser devices in each of saidpredetermined groups is disposed at predetermined intervals, eachilluminating area of said laser beam radiated from said each laserdevice overlapping each other at the distance of said measurementsubject, wherein each of said predetermined groups comprises a pair oflaser devices that are disposed opposite each other with a center of aphotographing lens in between.
 7. The device of claim 6, wherein saideach group of laser devices radiates laser beams at a different timing.8. The device of claim 6, wherein said plurality of laser devices isdisposed at regular intervals along a periphery of a photographing lensin circular arrangement.
 9. The device of claim 8, wherein at least onelaser device of a predetermined group is disposed between said plurallaser devices forming another predetermined group.